Chapter : 1 Introduction (ARJUNA: THE JOURNEY OF A HERO)

Arjuna is as old as the hills and as fresh as morning dew. Like grass on earth,

like hair on skin, Arjuna arose from Indra's own self. Arjuna is timeless and yet

he belongs to all times. Even our times! Arjuna is the star student and the master

archer; he is the lover and the warrior; he is Dhananjaya—the conqueror of

fortune; he is Vijaya—the last word in success. The secret behind Arjuna's

success is coded by the divine that resides within the human form. Arjuna's story

is our own unwritten story. Invincible Arjuna is the untold story of the making of

a hero against all odds.

Our world is desperately in need of heroes. Heroes define the limits of human

achievement and human possibility. To be born human is in itself the end result

of a heroic journey of evolution. The human being is a supreme achievement of

Nature. It takes Nature a million years to perfect the wings of a butterfly or the

claws of a tiger. It has taken Mother Nature billions of years to evolve a human

being. In Indian mythology, Arjuna is a Shreshtha, a supreme human talent. Yet,

he must go on many adventures to test his mettle.

A human being belongs to the only species on earth that can re-invent itself

over and over again. It is almost as if a human is capable of being born many

times in one lifetime. A human is first born when he emerges from the womb of

his mother. Then, he is born again and again as he discovers new sources of

inspiration within himself. But a hero's journey begins when he discovers

something that challenges him. In order to rise to the challenge, the fire within

must be greater than the force of the challenge. The challenge draws out those

unborn energies and undiscovered talents within the hero. When the hero

recognizes those powers as his own, he is able to craft a new identity for himself.

Whichever powers the hero identifies with, becomes his identity. The many

names of Arjuna—Vijaya, Dhananjaya, and Sabyasachi—are those powers that

are waiting to be discovered. Thus, Arjuna discovers the law of identity.

The hero's path has never been smooth. Arjuna faces challenges from rivals like Karna and Duryodhana. In a world where jealousy wears the mask of

competition and camaraderie, the hero needs the power of clarity. He needs

crystal-clear vision to go deep into the mystery of human nature. Both the divine

and the devil can sit together within a human being. Arjuna is very unlike his

headstrong brother Bhima, who is wild as the wind. Arjuna achieves with his

mind that which Bhima tries to achieve with his muscles. Arjuna masters the law

of clarity as he learns from his mistakes and missteps.

Arjuna's most powerful weapon is not Gandiva, his indestructible bow, but

his power of concentration. With this weapon, he learns to shoot arrows in the

dark and pierces a bird's eye with unerring precision. Arjuna wins Draupadi's

hand and heart through a concentrated effort. To win in the battles of life, a hero

needs to constantly focus on the goal rather than on the obstacles in his path. The

human faculty that keeps the hero's focus persistently on the goal is the intellect.

Arjuna's sharp intellect keeps his muscles and his mind together in pursuit of the

ultimate. His intellect enables Arjuna to ask questions of Krishna in the

battlefield of Kurukshetra. His intellect helps him cut through the world of

surface appearances to get to the deeper secrets of life that Krishna teaches him.

The ability to concentrate is also the secret to self-discovery. The hero reaches

inside himself to discover that his internal resources are much greater than the

challenges he faces.

Another quality that sets Arjuna apart from the rest is the courage of

commitment. Commitment brings with it the urgency to take on a challenge.

Arjuna is quick to commit himself to saving Drona's life when it is threatened by

a crocodile. He commits to avenging his son's death before the sun sets. Arjuna

shows how heroes are unafraid of unwavering commitment.

Commitment is nothing but a call to action. Arjuna unlike Yudhisthira does

not waste time standing on the horns of dilemma. He is a man of action, he's like

quicksilver. His swadharma is that of a Kshatriya. He has to uphold the dharma

of the land and if need be give his life for it. Many times, his need for action

brings Arjuna to the brink of death. He fights fierce life-and-death battles with

none other than Shiva, the Lord of the Universe. Arjuna demonstrates that a

hero's wisdom is forged in the fire of action.

Every hero meets a mentor who guides him through the trials of life. Arjuna

forms an endearing and enduring bond with Krishna. Without the mentorship of

Krishna, Arjuna would have remained an ordinary fighter. Krishna's friendship

gives Arjuna hope in despair and wisdom in the middle of a war. Friends

complement us. Krishna is not an ordinary friend. Krishna not just complements

but completes Arjuna.

Arjuna also learns the law of desire and detachment. He desires Draupadi, falls in love with Subhadra and resists the advances of Urvashi. He learns that

love is a play of two polar opposite emotions, desire and detachment, raga and

vairagya. Desire acts like an accelerator. Detachment works as a break. With

desire and detachment Arjuna drives this streetcar called life.

In a hero's journey, desire deepens into devotion. This secret of devotion is

revealed to Arjuna by Krishna. 'Remember me and fight,' Krishna urges Arjuna.

The ability to offer every thought and every action to the higher principle within

us is the law of devotion. Devotion taps into the deepest potential of the human

heart in whatever the human being wants to achieve. True greatness, as Arjuna

discovers, cannot be achieved without complete devotion.

The law of devotion reveals to Arjuna the secret to all enduring success.

Ultimate success comes when the head and the heart come together. For the

hero, the distance between the head and the heart is greater than the distance

between earth and sky. Yet, once this distance is bridged, Arjuna becomes a

whole person. A whole person is an undivided person. His head does not go

against his heart. For a fighter, the head and the heart are constantly divided. The

fighter divides the world into 'you' and 'I'. For the warrior there is just 'we'.

The warrior uses the enemy's resistance to grow himself. Arjuna is devoted to

his brothers. He is devoted to Subhadra, his wife. He dotes on his son

Abhimanyu. Finally, he is timelessly and deeply devoted to his friend and

mentor Krishna. This is the secret of his invincibility.

Arjuna wakes up from his delusion to discover the deepest secret of the hero's

journey. Where he thought that he was only this human body, he discovered that

he was the divine spirit; where he thought he was just a fighter who fought his

enemies, he discovered that he was a warrior who had only himself to conquer;

where he thought that he had travelled the length and breadth of his world, he

discovered that he was only travelling to the depths of his own consciousness;

where he thought that he was alone in his heroic journey, he discovered that he

was one with all that there was in existence. Thus, Arjuna lived and died as a

hero—in his own time and for all times.